Home / Jeremy & Elizabeth’s Northern Odyssey Tour of the United Kingdom

Jeremy & Elizabeth’s Northern Odyssey Tour of the United Kingdom

Please join us for the 2018 Northern Odyssey Tour of London and Yorkshire!
Sunday, October 14th to Thursday, October 25th, 2018.

Our Northern Odyssey will start in cosmopolitan London where you will have the opportunity to visit some of the sights of our incredible city and spend a day at the world-famous Royal School of Needlework based at the Tudor Palace of Hampton Court. Our tour will proceed to the North to visit the famous county of Yorkshire, a region of stunning hill scenery, fascinating towns and cities, including medieval York. We will have a tremendous program of events and visits to this beautiful region. The tour will end at Woburn, just north of London, where we will visit the famous Woburn Abbey Stately Home. On our tour, we will sample award-winning cuisine at top-class hotels and restaurants, while at the same time we shall be stitching beautiful projects inspired by our Odyssey.

Planned Itinerary

Sunday 14th OctoberArrival of Guests at the Mitre Hotel, Hampton Court by 5pm. Welcome Reception with outline of our Tour activities. Dinner at the hotel.

Monday 15th October
After breakfast we will be collected by our luxury coach, which will take us to the centre of London, visiting the world-renowned Victoria and Albert Museum, followed by shopping at Fortnum and Mason and various other places, including Liberty of London, an iconic department store. Afterwards our coach will take us on a tour of the famous sights of London, from where we will return to the hotel for dinner.

Tuesday 16th October
After breakfast we will stroll across the road to the magnificent Tudor Palace of Hampton Court, once home to Henry VIII, visiting the famous Royal School of Needlework, where we will take a tour around the School and a class with one of the professional teachers. We will also have time to look in the Palace and visit the in-house shops. Dinner will be at Mezzet, an amazing Lebanese Restaurant in Hampton Court Village, a few minutes from the hotel.

Wednesday 17th October
Early breakfast and departure around 8 a.m. The coach will drive us (approximately 3 hours) to Hardwick Hall, a magnificent Elizabethan Mansion, once owned by Bess of Hardwick, who was reputed to be wealthier than Queen Elizabeth I. The house has a heritage of textiles of the period and is great inspiration for stitchers. After our visit we will continue to the county of Yorkshire, (approximately 2 hours more), where we will check into a hotel in Harrogate, an elegant spa town, for three nights and well located for our visits to the surrounding area. Dinner at the hotel.

Thursday 18th October
Today we shall visit Salts Mill. This was originally a textile mill and village created by the philanthropist Sir Titus Salt in the mid-nineteenth Century. It is a unique complex and beautiful industrial building, home to the 1853 Gallery with works by the world-famous, locally-born David Hockney. You will have the opportunity to shop and have a light lunch. In the afternoon we will proceed to the quintessentially Yorkshire village of Haworth, and take a tour round the Haworth Parsonage, which was the home of the Bronte Sisters, who wrote so many incredible novels which have become classics, including Wuthering Heights and Jane Ayre. We will return to Harrogate for dinner.

Friday 19th October
After breakfast, we will visit the beautiful medieval city of York, founded by the Romans and later conquered by the Vikings. We will spend the whole day here visiting the Minster (Cathedral), museums, the Roman Walls and have time to wander its languid medieval lanes. Dinner will be either at a gastropub or at the hotel.

Saturday 20th October
After breakfast we will check out of the hotel and have time to visit some of the sights of Harrogate. Our coach will then take us eastwards across stunning northern countryside, to the small market town of Helmsley on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors. We will check into the Black Swan Hotel for two nights and will have time before dinner to explore this quaint town. Dinner in the award-winning hotel restaurant.

Sunday 21st October
After a leisurely Sunday breakfast we will visit the nearby majestic stately home of Castle Howard, designed by the architect John Vanbrugh in 1699. It took over 100 years to complete his original design, and was immortalized in the TV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. In the late afternoon we will have leisure time to stitch before dinner at the hotel.

Monday 22nd October
After breakfast we will head south to the county of Bedfordshire and to Woburn, a journey of about 4 hours. Our hotel here will the Woburn Hotel, where we will spend three nights. Time at leisure followed by dinner at the hotel.

Tuesday 23rd October
Today we shall be visiting Bletchley Park. This location was the home of the ‘Code-Breakers’ during the Second World War. They played a fundamental role in defeating the Third Reich and its Allies by intercepting and breaking the coded messages of the German Armed Forces. They were a precursor of all Intelligence Agencies as we know them today. This will be a fascinating visit to somewhere with a more recent history. In the afternoon our tour takes us back to Woburn for a visit to the Abbey, home of the Duke and Duchess of Bedford. In the evening, we shall hold a pop-up needlework shop, followed by a light dinner in the hotel bar.

Wednesday 24th October
Today we have our full day needlework retreat in the Covent Garden Suite of the hotel. This will be tutored by Elizabeth in the morning and Rosemary Sharman in the afternoon. It promises to be a day of inspirational stitching and a fitting conclusion to our tour. During the day we will have coffee, tea and a buffet lunch. Our farewell dinner will take place in the restaurant.

Thursday 25th October
Today you will be shuttled back to London Heathrow Airport for your flights home. Please ensure if you are booking flights that your departure time is not before 12:00 midday (due to transfer time and rush hour into London). The journey is approximately 75 minutes, depending on traffic conditions.

Please check back for updates.

Notes.During our stay in Yorkshire, we will do all the activities listed, but may change the running order on this itinerary, subject to opening times, etc. We have yet to make firm hotel choice in Harrogate due to anticipation of our numbers. The hotel chosen will nevertheless be of a very high standard.

In some of the villages and towns, the lanes can be steep and uneven. Please make sure you have good suitable footwear.

Included in the tour price will be all the stitching projects with materials. All you will need to bring are your personal stitching tools that you would normally use. We have not listed on the itinerary specific times for stitching and tutorials, however we will make ample time available for these activities.

All dinners are included in the tour price, excluding beverages. We normally have a big English breakfast and at lunchtime you will be able to purchase a light lunch or a Yorkshire Tea. Lunch will be included at Woburn on the last full day. Please note that we can accommodate food allergies by your prior advice.

All our accommodations and dinners will be of very high standard and although we are really informal as a tour, some of our dining venues may request guests to adopt more ‘smart casual’ attire.

The tour will be guided by both Jeremy and Elizabeth. The North is of course Jeremy’s home territory where he was born and raised, and he is an expert on the region.

If you wish to arrive before 14th October, we can organize extra nights and have a concierge service to advise you on activities and visits. Likewise if you wish to extend your stay, we can help you with your arrangements.

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